The Trouble With Men
by fananicfan
Summary: A continuation of the next to the last scene in 'A Girl's Best Friend' where Harm brings Mac home, and she joins Mattie and Jennifer Coates for popcorn.


THE TROUBLE WITH MEN

By: fananicfan

APRIL 2009 CHALLENGE STORY

AN: This scene is a continuation of the next to the last scene in 'A Girl's Best Friend' where Harm brings Mac home, and she joins Mattie and Jennifer Coates for popcorn.

THE TROUBLE WITH MEN

Harm watched from the doorway as Mac walked over to where Jennifer and Mattie were seated. He stared as she lowered herself into a chair before being offered popcorn. She'd just slipped into their world with ease and seemed to be at home there. If only she'd slip into his world that easily, he thought momentarily before deciding that he needed to put some space between himself and the scene in front of him.

"I'm going to go put my things away and change. Am I cooking or am I ordering pizza tonight?"

The three sets of eyes looked at him and, in unison replied, "Pizza."

He wondered if he should be insulted by the immediate and unanimous response, but tried not to let it bother him too much as he moved into the room to clarify what kind of pizza they wanted. "The usual for everyone?" he asked.

"That's okay with us, but what about you, Mac?" Mattie asked as she looked at the woman in uniform.

"I know what she likes..." he said without giving his words any thought until Mattie's eyebrows went up in that teenage way of turning his simple reply into innuendo that there was something more between them "...on her pizza," he added, making eye contact with Mattie before looking at Mac.

"You don't need to order anything special on my account. Just order what you usually do," Mac said politely, not wanting to be any trouble or put a kink in their routine.

"I'll be back in a few minutes with an ETA on dinner," he said with a smile before turning around to go to his apartment.

As he unlocked his apartment door, he wondered if leaving the three of them alone in the other apartment was a good idea. They all knew each other, but not well, and it might be awkward for each of them, for different reasons.

For Coates, there could be some discomfort because Mac was one of her superiors. By the time he'd placed his briefcase and cover down on his desk, Harm had ruled that out as a reason to go break up the trio He and Coates worked in the same office, but had very little contact there and, to date, the current arrangement hadn't interfered with work. So, he felt sure that a little popcorn and pizza wouldn't cause any problems between Mac and Jennifer.

As he unbuttoned and stripped off his shirt, he gave consideration to Mattie and how she'd feel about having Mac around this evening. Again, the question seemed to answer itself as he finished peeling off his uniform. Mattie knew that he and Mac were friends. There might be some topics that Mattie wouldn't feel comfortable in discussing in front of Mac, but there was no reason to believe that an encounter between the two should result in any cause for concern.

SAME TIME

IN THE COATES/JOHNSON APARTMENT

"So, fill me in on what the two of you were talking about when we arrived," Mac said as soon as Harm was out of sight.

Mattie looked at Jen, looking for some kind of sign that it was okay to share their conversation with Mac. Once Jen nodded her consent, Mattie said, "We were talking about what's wrong with boys."

"Well, I was wondering what's wrong with men," Jen added, trying to give her problem some kind of distinction from Mattie's teenage boy trouble.

"Will one of you be a little more specific and tell me what this boy or man has done? You could start with something simple like their names so I can follow along more easily," Mac said, looking first at Mattie and then at Jennifer.

"His name was Jarrod," Mattie began.

"Was...that must mean that you two aren't together any more," Mac half asked, half stated as an observation to her use of the past tense.

"That's right. I thought he was someone very special, but the feeling apparently wasn't mutual. Yesterday, he told me that he wasn't sure that our relationship was going to work out because he wasn't sure what he wanted in a girlfriend. I spent the rest of the day trying to wrap my head around the idea that the man I love just told me that he was thinking about leaving me. And today, he broke up with me," Mattie finished sadly.

Mac looked to Jennifer for her story.

"His name was Warren. We went out only a few times, so he wasn't any body special, but he hasn't called in more than two weeks. Before you came in, I was telling Mattie that, in a way, she should be glad that Jarrod told her that he didn't want to see her any more. It's better than waiting around for him to call and the phone never ringing."

"I think Jennifer's right. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop it from hurting when someone you care about walks out of your life, no matter what the reason, but it's better to know where you stand. It's better to know that they've moved on and don't see you as part of their future than for you to believe that your relationship is moving forward when it isn't going anywhere," Mac said.

The sadness in Mac's tone as she spoke led Mattie to ask, "Is it that Webb guy that you had a date with on Christmas Eve that you're in love with who's keeping you guessing about where your relationship is going?"

Nearing the doorway, Harm heard the question. He stopped and stood motionless in the hall, waiting to hear Mac's answer.

Mac shifted in her chair. She was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "He isn't the man who I was thinking about."

"Then, who was he?" Mattie asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"He's a good man who just never gave much thought to the kind of woman that he wants a future with, I guess you could say. I think that's the trouble with men, at least some of them. They stay indecisive about what they want in a girlfriend or a relationship for too long. They aren't ready for a long-term committed relationship until they grow up, emotionally, I mean, and some never do grow up."

Harm, still listening in the hall, knew that Mac viewed him as one of those "Peter Pan" types, leading him to wonder if she was talking about him.

Jennifer was nodding in agreement of Mac's analysis until the tone in which Mac had spoken caused her to ask, "You're still in love with the man who you were talking about, aren't you, ma'am?" Jennifer swallowed hard after the question left her mouth. She hoped that she hadn't stepped over the line in asking an officer in her command such a question.

Every muscle in Harm's body tensed at that question. If she was talking about him, he was going to be privy to the answer of whether or not she was still in love with him. Suddenly, his mouth grew very dry as he waited for her answer.

Mac didn't seem phased by the question, but she did appear to "check out" on them. She had a far away look in her eyes, a look that both Mattie and Jennifer noticed and concluded, individually, that she was lost in reliving a moment in time with the man to whom she'd been referring. When the corners of her mouth began to turn up and a smile began to spread across her face, they knew that it was a fond memory that she was revisiting.

"She isn't going to tell us," Jennifer said to Mattie.

"Why should I?" Mac asked coyly before continuing, "The three of us don't know each other that well, and a girl should have a secret or two, don't you think?" The latter was asked with a mischievous smile.

"Come on, ma'am, just a first name. We told you our guys' names."

"Oh my god!" Mattie squealed. "You're not telling us because it's someone we know. It's Harm, isn't it?" she asked excitedly.

"Why would you think that?" Mac tried to sound indignant.

"For one thing, you're not denying it," Mattie answered before asking a string of questions in quick succession. "How long did the two of you go out? Why did you break up? Does he know that you're still in love with him?" She paused to catch her breath.

Though Harm wanted to know the answer to some of those questions, he didn't want his ward and a petty officer in his command to know the answers before he did, so he wanted to put an end to their conversation.

He stepped into the doorway, now dressed casually in jeans and a v-necked sweater.

"Pizza should be here in about twenty minutes. What are you ladies talking about?"

"You don't want to know," Mac answered.

"Boys," he said, shaking his head. "Then has this become a 'girls only' party, or can one of the enemy join you?"

"I'm sure that we can make an exception for you, right, Mac?" Mattie said with a grin.

Mac nodded in agreement, the blush on her cheeks not going unnoticed by Harm, leaving him wondering if Mattie was right. Did Mac still love him?

The ladies changed the topic of conversation to something more 'man friendly' until the pizza arrived.

Harm bit off the pointed end of a new slice of his vegetarian pizza while feeling a set of eyes fixed on him. He started to chew and looked in the direction of the set of eyes.

There was something about the way that Mattie was looking at him that made him feel very uncomfortable.

"Harm, are you dating anyone?" Mattie asked.

He swallowed hard, and the piece of pizza nearly choked him as it went down, the ensuing cough and a sip of his drink allowing him a moment to consider if he should answer her question in this very public forum.

He decided that avoiding the question would cause more of a stir than the simple answer to her inquiry, so he replied, "No."

The wheels inside Mattie's head were turning quickly, so it took her only a couple of seconds to turn her attention to Mac and ask her, "Is that Mr. Webb guy your boyfriend?"

Harm knew that he should call Mattie down for her question, but she was asking a question to which he desperately wanted to know the answer, so he'd see if Mac would answer it, but he'd shut down any further questioning.

Mac wasn't sure if she should answer, but couldn't think of a good reason why she shouldn't, so she gave into the teenager's curiosity. "No, we've gone out to dinner a few times, so, at the most, you could say that we're dating, but he isn't my boyfriend."

"Do you want him to be?" Mattie asked.

Harm wanted to know the answer to that question, too, but he'd said that he'd let only one question slide.

"Mattie, what is your fascination with other people's love lives this evening?" Harm was only asking a question, but the stern tone of his voice let Mattie know that he wasn't amused by her choice of conversational topics.

"I'm just trying to figure out the girl/guy dynamic, but if three intelligent adults don't have it figured out, I think it's hopeless," Mattie responded.

"I'm not sure that there's anything to figure out. I think it's just a matter of finding the right person." This came out of Harm's mouth and, suddenly, he had three sets of female eyes staring at him like he'd just said that he had a plan to solve world hunger or bring about world peace.

"Please elaborate on this theory of yours," Mac said, leaning back in her chair.

"I don't want to bore you with a male perspective when you were just involved in what appears to have been a heated round of male bashing just minutes ago."

The sparks began to fly as Harm and Mac began to square off in a way that even a fifteen year old recognized. Those two were into each other.

"We weren't male bashing. The older and wiser from experience were just explaining to the young woman that she shouldn't be upset that the guy who she liked didn't want to be her boyfriend anymore, because boys don't know what they want and that she should consider it practice because some _men_ never get it figured out either," Mac offered in defense of her conversation with Mattie and Jennifer.

"I know some women who don't know what they want as well," Harm uttered defensively.

"Women know what they want. We've just learned that we can't express it first because then the man starts whining about how we're pressuring them for a commitment."

"Sometimes a woman needs to listen to the words that a guy uses. When a man says not yet, it doesn't mean no or never. It means I'm not ready right now, check back with me later or let me tell you when I'm ready!" Harm was getting frustrated with the conversation, and he didn't realize the slip that he'd made in the latter part of his statement, but Mac caught it.

"And sometimes a man needs to know that, when a woman says never, she's just been waiting so long without a sign that he's even still interested that she's decided that, if he _still_ isn't ready, it's _never_ going to happen!"

Jennifer had been watching the two of them, knowing that there was definitely some unresolved issue or issues between them, but with Harm's slip by using the first person, the conversation had the potential of revealing too much personal information in front of Mattie...her, too, for that matter. She needed to say something.

"Anyone want another slice of pizza?" Jennifer knew that it was a lame interruption, but it was enough.

At the sound of her question, Harm and Mac broke the intense gaze that they'd been locked in for the last few minutes as they'd debated the differences between men and women.

"No, I think I've had enough, thank you," Mac said to Jennifer's question, and no one in the room knew if she was talking about pizza or Harm. "I should go. I have a busy day tomorrow."

Mac stood. "I'll see you at the office in the morning, Jennifer."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Mattie, it was nice getting to know a little something more about you. I know that it might not matter much at the moment, but it's Jarrod's loss, not yours. Maybe Harm will let me take you to lunch one of these days, and you can tell me who the newest boy is to catch your eye," Mac said sincerely.

"I'd like that," Mattie responded.

"Good night, Mac," Mattie said as Mac reached the doorway.

"Good night, Mattie," Mac replied with a smile before it faded away as she looked at Harm, "Good bye, Harm."

Harm sat stunned at the turn of events this evening, from the family style scene when Mac had slipped into the picture moments after they'd arrived until now, when she was telling him goodbye.

He started to reply. "Good..." Then it dawned on him that she'd said goodbye, not good night. He had to fix this. He looked at the doorway, but she was already heading to the elevator and out of earshot.

"Go after her," Mattie urged.

Harm reached for his now cold slice of pizza. He wasn't going to go chasing after her like he was a smitten school boy.

Mattie let out a sigh of disgust before stating what was on her mind. "I don't know why the two of you broke up, but it's easy to see that it isn't over between you, and you're not making this any easier on either of you by not talking about it plainly so that the two of you can decide if you're going to get back together or if you're really over.

"I'm not making this any easier...what about her?" Harm snapped, immediately sorry for his short temper. "You don't understand, and the situation is classified, so I can't explain it to you."

When he used the word 'classified', Jennifer was pretty sure that it must have something to do with his resigning to go after Mac.

"We don't have to understand. She does," Jennifer offered.

Harm nodded that he'd heard her. Then he stood and dashed out of the apartment.

Mac was no longer standing in front of the elevator, so he ran to the stairs, hoping to catch her before she drove off. He took the stairs two at a time.

He ran out the door leading to the street, and her car was sitting there right in front. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was just opening the driver's door.

"Mac, wait!" he yelled to be sure that she heard him over any street noise as he moved quickly to join her on the driver's side of the car.

"Harm, I don't want to fight with you anymore. We've been working together with a little friction, but it's been getting better. We just have to realize that we'll never-"

He cut her off. "Don't say that. I know that you've been waiting a long time, and I thought that I was ready when I came to Paraguay, but since I couldn't tell you why I'd resigned my commission and traveled five thousand miles ... I guess I wasn't as ready as I thought I was, or maybe seeing you kiss him made me wonder if I was putting my heart out there to get it stomped on, but, Mac, you're my right woman, and I'm closer to being ready than I've ever been before....will you please give me a little more time?"

"I -" He cut her off again, but this time, not with words. His lips came to hers, and he tried to say with a kiss what he couldn't verbalize yet. He loved her.

He pulled his lips back after hoping that he'd made his point.

"Did you mean that?" She whispered the question.

"The kiss, the words...I meant it all. So please think about giving me more time," he replied softly.

She nodded, and he opened her car door for her. She slipped into the driver's seat.

He started to close the door, but she stopped him. She got back out of the car and threw her arms around his neck.

"You can have more time if that bowl of pasta that you invited me over for tonight is on the menu the next time you have me over for dinner, and if you kiss me every once in awhile to remind me that you still care."

"Deal," he said as his arms wrapped around her before their lips met again in another kiss.

Harm returned to Jennifer's apartment a few minutes later without Mac.

"Where's Mac?" Mattie questioned, almost demanding. "You didn't catch up with her or you talked to her and she left, which is it?" Mattie asked, wanting to know if they'd worked anything out.

"We talked. I owe her a pasta dinner," he said before adding, "I think I'll take my pizza over to my place." He grabbed the box containing his pizza and returned to his apartment with a little spring in his step.

When Mattie heard his door close behind him, she looked at Jennifer. "I think the trouble with men is that they're just too much work."

THE END


End file.
